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Foreign
trade policy targets $92-bn exports
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Know India Better:
An Introduction to Indian Music
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Commerce
and Industry Minister's visit to Australia will Boost India-Australia
Economic and Trade Relations |
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Shri
Kamal Nath, Commerce and Industry Minister, visited Australia
from 16 to 20 May, 2005 for the India-Australia Joint Ministerial
Commission, leading a large business delegation.
In Perth, Shri Kamal Nath met the Premier of Western Australia,
Mr. Geoff Gallop, and discussed issues related to growing ties
between India and Australia, and Western Australia’s significant
role in economic ties between the two countries.
In Sydney, Shri Kamal Nath addressed the Australian CEOs and
spoke on business opportunities in India. Later he, along with
the Australian Minister for Communication and Information Technology,
inaugurated the India-Australia Joint Business Council meeting.
The Joint Commission meeting was held in Sydney on 19 May in
the afternoon, co-chaired by Shri Kamal Nath and Mr.Mark Vaile,
the Australian Minister for ForeignTrade. |
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The Joint
Commission agreed to begin official level talks for developing
a Trade and Economic Framework, which will anchor the further
expansion of economic and commercial ties.
Mr.Mark Vaile, commenting on the Agreement, said that India
is set to become one of Australia’s key regional partners.
He added that India is Australia’s fastest growing merchandise
export market over the past 5 years.
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Shri Kamal
Nath also met Premier Bob Carr and discussed ways of further
activating economic ties between India and New South Wales.
In Melbourne, Shri Kamal Nath met Mr.Steve Bracks, Premier of
Victoria and discussed increasing cooperation between the companies
based in Victoria and India. Victoria is planning to open a
Trade Office in Bangalore. |
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Shri Kamal Nath also addressed a well-attended business lunch
hosted by the Australia-India Business Council. Minister Marsha
Thompson of the Victorian Government was also present and addressed
the gathering.
Shri Kamal Nath also addressed a breakfast meeting at the Lowy
Institute in Sydney. He also had detailed interaction with the
Global Foundation in Sydney and Melbourne. |
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A Letter
from the High Commissioner |
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Since
my arrival in Australia about a year ago, I have been struck
by the positive and growing interest in India among policy-makers,
the media and business here. It has been my effort to feed that
interest. In particular, I have tried to address the companion
perception that India is far away and a difficult place to do
business in.
In fact, it is neither. It is
closer than the traditional economic partners of Australia in
Europe and America; it is also no further than the North Asian
partners that have been so
actively engaged by Australia
in recent
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As to difficulty,
a recent study by A.T. Kearney placed India third - behind China
and the US - among the most attractive investment destinations
in the world.
The Kearney study was focussed on foreign investment. Even in
a domestic context, it is striking that India saw the second
highest number of business start-ups in 2003, after the US.
There is good news coming out of India but I always emphasise
the qualitative changes taking place too. The most important
is the increasing role of a genuine private sector in India
in the last 15 or 20 years. We have been able to move away from
the "socialistic pattern of society" proclaimed in
our Industrial Policy Resolution in 1956. This has been built
on the foundations of the strong historical tradition of private
enterprise in the country. Whether we talk of energy or automobiles,
or
telecommunication, there is an entrepreneurial class that is
ready to fill in the space as the state retreats from economic
activity. |
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Another important
feature of the Indian economy is the fact that our growth is
still largely driven by domestic demand. We have not followed
the East and South-East Asian model of largely export-led growth.
This makes India a good bet for a counter-cyclical strategy.
We have a growing middle-class of some 400million, all woven
together in one national market. We are also gradually opening
up the retail sector, valued at about US$150billion and growing
at 25-30 percent every year.
This economic churning in India is matched by a similar re-arrangement
in the political and cultural spheres. The spread of education
and wealth has enabled the best of us to go global, and our
cuisine and Bollywood are making a space for themselves in virtually
every continent. The vibrancy of our media and the frenetic
political activity back home are all a reflection of this changing
India.
Our hope is to project a little of this to the readers of this
newsletter. |
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We hope that the readers will see that there is a historic process
under way, and seek to participate in it. We have a busy bilateral
schedule of activities in the coming year. Our Joint Economic
Commission met in the third week of April in Australia. Commerce
& Industry Minister, Kamal Nath, spent a week in Australia,
covering Perth, Sydney and Melbourne. We look forward to welcoming
Foreign Minister Downer a little later. And then we plan on
the big ones - exchange of visits at the level of Head of State
and Government.
It promises to be the start of a dynamic new relationship, one
filled with new content. It will bring together two well-established
democracies in the Asia-Pacific region closer together and help
foster greater prosperity and stability in the continent.
Oh, and we shan't forget the cricket either.
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India –Australia Ties in History and
Now
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India - Australia
have shared traditional ties dating back to the 18th century.
The relations can be traced back to late 18th Century and early
19th Century with shipments of coal from Sydney to Calcutta.
This was followed by export of horses from New South Wales.
Later, more diversified trade ties developed between the two
countries. |
Full diplomatic relations between our two
countries are much more recent but still date back to more than
50 years. The pre-cursor of Consulate-General of India first opened
in Sydney as the Trade Office in 1941. The first Indian High Commissioner
reached Canberra in 1946. India and Australia share much in common.
Both countries are members of the Commonwealth, have similar institutions
of parliamentary democracy, legal, financial and government institutions,
free and vibrant press, speak the same language and are Indian Ocean
littoral States. We are active members of the Indian Ocean Rim -
Association for Regional Cooperation, ASEAN Regional Forum and dialogue
partners with ASEAN.
The bilateral relationship continued to
develop over the years. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited Australia
in 1986.
A return visit was paid by Prime Minister Hawke in 1989. Relations
developed steadily, through the 1990's, until the nuclear tests
by India in 1998. However, after a brief dip, bilateral exchanges
resumed, and became more active from 2000 onwards, following Prime
Minister John Howard's visit in July that year. The visit of an
Australian Prime Minister opened a new phase in bilateral relations.
This visit was followed by a series of Minister-level visits and
substantive discussions between the two Governments.
The most recent was the visit of Mr. Yashwant Sinha, former External
Affairs Minister in August 2003 for the Foreign Ministers' Framework
Dialogue. In 2004, Premier of Queensland, Mr. Peter Beattie; Premier
of NSW, Mr. Bob Carr; and Premier of South Australia, Mr. Mike Rann,
visited India. Considering the interaction in the past two and a
half years bilateral relations between our two countries are poised
to be raised to a new level. India and Australia have committed
themselves to a co-ordinated international approach in overcoming
the challenges posed by terrorism. We have similar approaches to
many of the other pressing issues of our times.
India-Australia cooperation has made rapid strides in many areas.
There are also official agreements and institutionalised mechanisms
to promote bilateral cooperation such as Avoidance of Double Taxation
Agreement, Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement,
an MOU for Cooperation in IT, an MOU on Tourism and an MOU on Cultural
Heritage Cooperation. India and Australia signed an MOU on Counter-terrorism
in August 2003 and an MOU on Science & Technology in October
2003. A new Air Services Agreement was initialled in September 2004
in New Delhi. This year a VVIP visit is expected to India from Australia.
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